Page 111 of The Scars I Bare
“Like a dream come true. Now, go bring home Dean,” she said, heading for the door. She stopped short just at the threshold. “And, Cora?”
“Yeah?” I said, grabbing the things she’d pulled out for me.
“Don’t forget that home now includes you.”
With a warm smile, she vanished into the hallway.
It didn’t take me long to get ready, thanks to Molly. I threw on the clothes she’d picked out, ran a comb through my hair, and brushed my teeth, all within the span of ten minutes. We were at the airport in another five and taking off. I’d never seen Ocracoke from the air before. In a different circumstance, I would have taken the time to look for the inn, point out Lizzie’s school to her, and soak in the beauty of the island we’d adopted.
But all I could do was stare down at that vast water and wonder what had happened the night before.
“Jake, do you have any updates?” I asked.
He looked to Lizzie, who was staring out the window, as if he were asking for permission to speak candidly in front of her.
I gave it with a single nod.
“Both of them were in pretty bad shape when the Coast Guard pulled them up into the helicopter. Blake more so since he’d been in the water longer and was, uh…intoxicated to begin with. They were worried about the lack of oxygen.”
“And now?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s only been a few hours, Cora, and being the middle of the night, information was hard to get. Even for me.”
I looked at the clock on my phone. He was right. Even though the sun was bright in the sky, it was still very early in the morning. I’d only been asleep for a handful of hours. Knowing this somehow relieved a bit of the guilt that had been coursing through me since I awoke in my comfy, dry bed, knowing Dean was somewhere suffering.
“Mommy?” Lizzie said, her gaze tearing away from the window as she turned toward me.
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“I have something to tell you,” she said, her eyes betraying her remorse.
“What?” I asked, suddenly worried. I sat up and grabbed her small hand as she looked away.
“You know how I like to go on the computer late at night after you go to sleep?”
I let out a sigh. “Yes.”
“Well, a while ago, when we first moved to Ocracoke, I made up an email address—SmartieBeachGirl5,” she explained before adding, “I guess I shouldn’t have put the five at the end of it since I’m six now. Can I change that?”
“Lizzie?”
“Right, okay. So, I made an email address, and I emailed Dean. I had taken a business card from his office that day he took me to the marina.”
I glanced over at Taylor and Jake, who were both doing a good job of minding their own business as both men looked out the window with feigned interest.
Curiously tilting my head to the side as my attention went back to my daughter, I asked, “Why did you email Dean?”
The side of her mouth scrunched up as she thought about it. “I told him you needed a friend,” she said. “And that Daddy had made you frown a lot, and I thought you needed someone to make you smile again.”
My heart melted.
“But that wasn’t the whole truth,” she said. “I wanted someone to make me smile again, too.”
“What do you mean?”
That same guilty face washed over her once more.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. You can be honest with me.”
